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A Wager For Love
The Earl of Saltaire had a reputation as a rakehell, an abductor and ravisher of women, a dandy and a demon on horseback. Much of what was said about him was true. Then what lady of means and of irreproachable character would consider marrying him—especially if she knew the reason for the match was primarily to win a bet? Certainly not Lavinia Davenham, a beautiful lady whose was wealth was newly acquired, but whose independence and integrity were lifelong qualities. Why, he'd have to carry her off by force in the dark of night! And so he did.
398 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1979
1 person is currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Courtney
47 books29 followersHer other names: Penny Jordan, Annie Groves, Melinda Wright, Lydia Hitchcock
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on 24 November 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialised bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan, and was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale, in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her late husband bought her out of his own money at a time when he could ill afford it the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels. Her husband died at the beginning of 21th century.
She has earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for threebair-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her present historical romance novels, she has adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70m of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
As Widow, Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family. She passed away on 31 December 2011.
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on 24 November 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru".
She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialised bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan, and was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale, in shops and she could have them for keeps.
Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her late husband bought her out of his own money at a time when he could ill afford it the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels. Her husband died at the beginning of 21th century.
She has earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for threebair-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her present historical romance novels, she has adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70m of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
As Widow, Penny Halsall lived in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She worked from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomed interruptions from her friends and family. She passed away on 31 December 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 6, 2019
Despite all the cliched issues that should gut this book, this one was unputdownable - at least after the first few chapters that present the setting.
The H is cold, unemotional and completely detached. After abducting the h and forcibly marrying her for a will and a wager, he precedes to mostly ignore her, or when the fancy takes him he threatens her, gives her sardonic looks, passes sarcastic comments or gives her punishing kisses and some teeth rattling shakes!
The h is likeable and a sensible sort who tries her best to avoid him and co-exist with dignity but that’s denied her as the ton comments on her plain looks and his ‘mistress’ and his ‘flirt’ at balls and routs. She buys a new wardrobe but the H doesn’t really comment or notice.
The om, an alpha friend-turned-foe of the H, woos the h to annoy the H and also as means of a long sought out revenge. He’s nice and I preferred him over the H who never says or does anything even remotely nice or romantic for the h.
The angst level shoots up slowly but steadily as the H’s cold, callous ways continue and nothing improves between the two of them. The author shows us the dumping of the mistress post wedding but he continues to meet her. He even invites her to their first ball - why I didn’t understand.
The secondary romance is very cute and I liked young Kitty after she developed a sensitive side.
And I didn’t know that Caroline Courtney’s a pseudonym of PJ till midway but the ‘megrims’ sounded familiar if not the H’s ‘punishing’ ways!
The H is cold, unemotional and completely detached. After abducting the h and forcibly marrying her for a will and a wager, he precedes to mostly ignore her, or when the fancy takes him he threatens her, gives her sardonic looks, passes sarcastic comments or gives her punishing kisses and some teeth rattling shakes!
The h is likeable and a sensible sort who tries her best to avoid him and co-exist with dignity but that’s denied her as the ton comments on her plain looks and his ‘mistress’ and his ‘flirt’ at balls and routs. She buys a new wardrobe but the H doesn’t really comment or notice.
The om, an alpha friend-turned-foe of the H, woos the h to annoy the H and also as means of a long sought out revenge. He’s nice and I preferred him over the H who never says or does anything even remotely nice or romantic for the h.
The angst level shoots up slowly but steadily as the H’s cold, callous ways continue and nothing improves between the two of them. The author shows us the dumping of the mistress post wedding but he continues to meet her. He even invites her to their first ball - why I didn’t understand.
The secondary romance is very cute and I liked young Kitty after she developed a sensitive side.
And I didn’t know that Caroline Courtney’s a pseudonym of PJ till midway but the ‘megrims’ sounded familiar if not the H’s ‘punishing’ ways!
December 8, 2019
2.5 stars
This lacked the passion and romance I know the author is capable of (Penny Jordan writing as Caroline Courtney). It was engaging and historically authentic, but a hero who remained callously aloof for far too long and minimal romantic interactions with the heroine made this unsatisfying. It's not until the end that Saltaire started treating Lavinia with warmth. It's only then, too, that we are allowed brief access to Saltaire's point of view which explained why he'd been behaving like the biggest prick in all of England. But the author left it too late to redeem Saltaire, who apparently loved the spirited Lavinia but didn't know it.
Lavinia's biggest weakness was her sweet nature, which compelled her to help (and love) others often at a cost to her own safety. She admitted to herself that even if Saltaire was 100 times worse she'd still love him. What the hell?
P.S. Despite the cover artwork, this is clearly a Georgian romance as noted in the book.
This lacked the passion and romance I know the author is capable of (Penny Jordan writing as Caroline Courtney). It was engaging and historically authentic, but a hero who remained callously aloof for far too long and minimal romantic interactions with the heroine made this unsatisfying. It's not until the end that Saltaire started treating Lavinia with warmth. It's only then, too, that we are allowed brief access to Saltaire's point of view which explained why he'd been behaving like the biggest prick in all of England. But the author left it too late to redeem Saltaire, who apparently loved the spirited Lavinia but didn't know it.
Lavinia's biggest weakness was her sweet nature, which compelled her to help (and love) others often at a cost to her own safety. She admitted to herself that even if Saltaire was 100 times worse she'd still love him. What the hell?
P.S. Despite the cover artwork, this is clearly a Georgian romance as noted in the book.
December 19, 2020
I do love a dark, heartless, arrogant rake of a hero, particularly before authors had to spend so much time explaining the reasons and excuses for their villainy. Our H, the Earl of Saltaire, delivers with unashamed old-skool, non-PC villainy. The book was first published in 1979, written by Caroline Courtney (aka Penny Jordan, which I only discovered recently). I’ve kept this novel for many years, as it’s one of my favorite “darker” short regencies (not quite up there with These Old Shades by Heyer, but is there anyone really, among modern romance writers, who can match Heyer?). Heroine Lavinia is a good match for the unrepentant icehole H, keeping her cool in the face of outrageous behavior including abduction and a forced marriage.
September 6, 2016
Dissenter here...hated it. Mean, nasty, sociopath hero abducts innocent young heiress and marries her for a wager...treats her like dirt, no consideration, flaunts ex-mistress and even has her (mistress) invited to their first ball but demands that heroine be chaste while telling her he would go his own way and do what he liked. The day she was attacked at Vauxhall he was in a party with his ex-mistress and went nearly berserk because he found her in company with a former friend of his. She tells him she was set on by a footpad and was rescued by said friend and he sees the ripped dress and the bruises but comes to the conclusion she's been making whoopee with the old friend. A logical conclusion don't you know. Stupid heroine must like to be treated like garbage, it must turn her on because illogically she decides she is desperately in love with our intrepid hero. Amazingly nasty hero decides he loves her too and changes character instantly... they fall into each other's arms and don't you know HEA . Just terrible going on my "Books I Loathe" list. Read on openlibrary.org
February 5, 2017
This is not a romance that should be aspired to or daydreamed over. When I first read this book as a teenager I thought it was so romantic, but now, reading it as a married adult I see how terrible the relationship between these two is! Abduction at gunpoint, a forced marriage in secret, an emotional and physically abusive husband, the social insults, and especially the punishing kisses--why should she love him except for maybe Stockholm syndrome?! The last scene is sweet and romantic but comes out of nowhere and doesn't make up for what a brutal, misogynistic tyrant he was for the rest of the book.
August 17, 2020
Pure crap!!
This is my 2nd or 3rd book by that author... I didn't realise at first it was the same writer, Penny Jordan, since she is using an alias here. Otherwise I woul have probably skipped it.
Same pattern with her:
*Her male leads are assholes - She knows how to write anti-heroes and vilains as love interest. You will hate them and she doesn't even redeem them.
*Her female leads are lusting after / being attracted to another man during the story. They will never however commit because somehow, they are in love with the jerk hero!! Why? Of course it is NOT clear since Penny/Caroline will not redeem the asshole and shows why the abused heroine is falling in love with him.
This is what happened in that book: Lavinia was flirting with the Marquis all the time! First time she saw him, sparks flew. Everyone around them noticed it. That was annoying seriously... The whole romance was between those two, Penny didn't even try to create a connection between the hero and his wife.
Saltaire was a true vilain lool! Mean with zero remorse. I didn't even understand how he came to love her. On the very last page he told her he loved her, and of course she did too..
And she was stupid!! I get she was a virgin but you don't follow strangers outside in the dark in secluded areas -_-
The only satisfaction I had from that book was when Saltaire king of told Richard to go F himself lool! Richard was planning to ask stupid Kitty's hand to Saltaire, like am I her guardian or something? Just write to her damn grandpa lool that was good :P
I really hated Kitty by the way. Stupid and foolish girl. I don't even understand how and why someone will let their grand daughter with a couple of strangers, when it is well known that the man is a rake?
And she talked too much for a secondary character, her silly romance with Richard had more exposure than the story between Lavinia and Saltaire
I wish I could give this 0 stars, it is absolutely NOT worthy. Not only the writing is bad with extremely long sentences hard to follow, but there is no romance and not even a sexy scene to make up for the lack of said romance.
This is my 2nd or 3rd book by that author... I didn't realise at first it was the same writer, Penny Jordan, since she is using an alias here. Otherwise I woul have probably skipped it.
Same pattern with her:
*Her male leads are assholes - She knows how to write anti-heroes and vilains as love interest. You will hate them and she doesn't even redeem them.
*Her female leads are lusting after / being attracted to another man during the story. They will never however commit because somehow, they are in love with the jerk hero!! Why? Of course it is NOT clear since Penny/Caroline will not redeem the asshole and shows why the abused heroine is falling in love with him.
This is what happened in that book: Lavinia was flirting with the Marquis all the time! First time she saw him, sparks flew. Everyone around them noticed it. That was annoying seriously... The whole romance was between those two, Penny didn't even try to create a connection between the hero and his wife.
Saltaire was a true vilain lool! Mean with zero remorse. I didn't even understand how he came to love her. On the very last page he told her he loved her, and of course she did too..
And she was stupid!! I get she was a virgin but you don't follow strangers outside in the dark in secluded areas -_-
The only satisfaction I had from that book was when Saltaire king of told Richard to go F himself lool! Richard was planning to ask stupid Kitty's hand to Saltaire, like am I her guardian or something? Just write to her damn grandpa lool that was good :P
I really hated Kitty by the way. Stupid and foolish girl. I don't even understand how and why someone will let their grand daughter with a couple of strangers, when it is well known that the man is a rake?
And she talked too much for a secondary character, her silly romance with Richard had more exposure than the story between Lavinia and Saltaire
I wish I could give this 0 stars, it is absolutely NOT worthy. Not only the writing is bad with extremely long sentences hard to follow, but there is no romance and not even a sexy scene to make up for the lack of said romance.
December 26, 2024
Impossible to finish
The plot: Lavinia has just inherited a fortune from her aunt, but unfortunately her younger brother gets involved in gambling and Lavinia tries to pay off the debt, but due to a confusion she ends up confronting the wrong man, the Count of Saltaire, who had previously bet that in less than 7 days he would marry a respectable lady with money, he then decides to kidnap Lavinia and force her to marry him, at the beginning this marriage will only be legal but they fall in love over time.
This book had everything I like, a despicable hero, a bet, a forced marriage and an intelligent heroine, unfortunately it is too slow and boring, you get to 50% and the protagonists have only spoken a couple of times and they are already married!!! From chapter one the author bombards us with conversations between men, about politics, money, business, something very historical but I don't want to read pages and more pages of that, it was tedious to death.
Now I love half-evil heroes, but Sinclair is simply a useless, lazy and bad person, he has no good points, he is not attractive in any way and that he fell in love with the protagonist out of nowhere did not seem credible or pleasant to me. The heroine has a good approach, she is presented as brave, independent and smart, but those qualities never shine, without fighting she lets herself be dragged to where Sancleir wants and does everything he tells her without protesting, she lets herself be deceived, manipulated, dragged, I never really sympathized with her.
But my biggest problem is that the story is difficult to follow at times, there are too many characters that do not add to the story that come and go, the story focuses on vain subplots like the secondary love story that for me is unnecessary, I don't know how many times I had to reread and all the time I felt bored and annoyed, the plot is not attractive and even less the narrative.
The plot: Lavinia has just inherited a fortune from her aunt, but unfortunately her younger brother gets involved in gambling and Lavinia tries to pay off the debt, but due to a confusion she ends up confronting the wrong man, the Count of Saltaire, who had previously bet that in less than 7 days he would marry a respectable lady with money, he then decides to kidnap Lavinia and force her to marry him, at the beginning this marriage will only be legal but they fall in love over time.
This book had everything I like, a despicable hero, a bet, a forced marriage and an intelligent heroine, unfortunately it is too slow and boring, you get to 50% and the protagonists have only spoken a couple of times and they are already married!!! From chapter one the author bombards us with conversations between men, about politics, money, business, something very historical but I don't want to read pages and more pages of that, it was tedious to death.
Now I love half-evil heroes, but Sinclair is simply a useless, lazy and bad person, he has no good points, he is not attractive in any way and that he fell in love with the protagonist out of nowhere did not seem credible or pleasant to me. The heroine has a good approach, she is presented as brave, independent and smart, but those qualities never shine, without fighting she lets herself be dragged to where Sancleir wants and does everything he tells her without protesting, she lets herself be deceived, manipulated, dragged, I never really sympathized with her.
But my biggest problem is that the story is difficult to follow at times, there are too many characters that do not add to the story that come and go, the story focuses on vain subplots like the secondary love story that for me is unnecessary, I don't know how many times I had to reread and all the time I felt bored and annoyed, the plot is not attractive and even less the narrative.
October 30, 2025
3.5 stars. this had all the elements and tropes I liked. a cold hearted rake who abducts a woman into marriage for a Wager and informs her he has no intention of changing his rakish ways and cares nothing for her. oh the potential for him to fall hard and eat his words! and a heroine who is both an innocent but also competent and no pushover, who copes better than he could ever expect in the situation and wins his grudging respect.
however the elements came together in a functional rather than magical way. it didn't quite flow for me. I couldn't feel their chemistry on page much. it didn't really give me the feels.
the book was fast paced and never boring and good if you're in the mood for a quick and easy read.
however the elements came together in a functional rather than magical way. it didn't quite flow for me. I couldn't feel their chemistry on page much. it didn't really give me the feels.
the book was fast paced and never boring and good if you're in the mood for a quick and easy read.
June 25, 2013
I see this book as a rewriting of Georgette Heyer’s The Convenient Marriage. The principal difference being that Heyer’s Horatia was the one proposing the marriage of convenience while Lavina is abducted and forced to wed her kidnaper to save her reputation.
The reason for the abduction being that the earl has inherited the title and the estate but not the money. His rich and jealous cousin proposes him a bet: if he manages to wed a rich young lady of irreproachable character despite his awful reputation within a given time, he will give him the fortune that he has just won at card. The sister of the man who has lost this fortune has just inherited from a distant relative and intends to pay for her brother, but she makes a mistake and she goes to the earl’s house instead of his cousin. The earl of course does not reveal the truth to her and see this has an opportunity to win his bet. Some days later he kidnaps her and forces her into marriage.
Horatia too secretly visits alone her future husband, but for her, it’s in order to propose the marriage. Then, another similarity is that the two of them get jealous of their husband’s supposed mistress and try to make their husband jealous too. However they choose the wrong man to do so, as they are manipulated by one of their husband enemy who is still bitter about a woman they both fell in love with in the past. The husbands suspect their scheme and during a masked bal they manage to take the place of their rival and to force a kiss on the heroines, their true identity being unsuspected by them.
An important difference is that the earl doesn’t treat Lavina well. In fact, after forcing her to wed him, he expects her to obey him and to behave meekly!
I found it fun to compare the two books similarities and differences while reading and I loved this book but it could be annoying for other readers. The characters and the story are not very original but I think that it was well executed and that it was quite enjoyable. It was a traditional historical romance with a good grasp of the conventions of the time, good writing and no explicit scene.
The reason for the abduction being that the earl has inherited the title and the estate but not the money. His rich and jealous cousin proposes him a bet: if he manages to wed a rich young lady of irreproachable character despite his awful reputation within a given time, he will give him the fortune that he has just won at card. The sister of the man who has lost this fortune has just inherited from a distant relative and intends to pay for her brother, but she makes a mistake and she goes to the earl’s house instead of his cousin. The earl of course does not reveal the truth to her and see this has an opportunity to win his bet. Some days later he kidnaps her and forces her into marriage.
Horatia too secretly visits alone her future husband, but for her, it’s in order to propose the marriage. Then, another similarity is that the two of them get jealous of their husband’s supposed mistress and try to make their husband jealous too. However they choose the wrong man to do so, as they are manipulated by one of their husband enemy who is still bitter about a woman they both fell in love with in the past. The husbands suspect their scheme and during a masked bal they manage to take the place of their rival and to force a kiss on the heroines, their true identity being unsuspected by them.
An important difference is that the earl doesn’t treat Lavina well. In fact, after forcing her to wed him, he expects her to obey him and to behave meekly!
I found it fun to compare the two books similarities and differences while reading and I loved this book but it could be annoying for other readers. The characters and the story are not very original but I think that it was well executed and that it was quite enjoyable. It was a traditional historical romance with a good grasp of the conventions of the time, good writing and no explicit scene.
May 7, 2016
i simply loved this one! Lavinia was an enchanting character. Saltaire represented everything a dark and delicious hero should be. i was astounded that both handsome men fell for Lavinia for she was described as passable, not a beauty. however, she had strength of character and did not let Saltaire or even Andover walk over her. she was honest and blunt and i guess dat was what made her all the more beautiful.
January 18, 2012
Read in Finnish. (Päävoittona rakkaus)
Enjoyable, entertaining but also frustrating. Contains all the clichés: Rake hero/innocent heroine, misunderstandings, punishing kisses, et cetera, et cetera.
But like I said, entertaining. I have no doubt I'll be rereading it again. :)
Enjoyable, entertaining but also frustrating. Contains all the clichés: Rake hero/innocent heroine, misunderstandings, punishing kisses, et cetera, et cetera.
But like I said, entertaining. I have no doubt I'll be rereading it again. :)
Want to read
March 10, 2012its 18th century...tricorns...wigs the whole of it. So why is there a regency couple on the cover?
In fact due to certain allusions in this book this book takes place somewhere between 1750-1776
In fact due to certain allusions in this book this book takes place somewhere between 1750-1776
November 18, 2013
Enjoyed it despite it being too short, derivatory and proofreading errors.
June 22, 2016
parts were great but on the whole there were no romantic moments between the couple that would have illustrated a love match
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews